Means of displaying articles of clothing and the like



1955 J. H. BURRELL 3,202,328

MEANS OF DISPLAYING ARTICLES 0F CLOTHING AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1965 J. H. BURRELL 3,202,328

MEANS OF DISPLAYING ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Trolwey;

United States Patent 3,202,328 MEANS @F DISPLAYING ARTIELES 0F CLOTHING AND THE LIKE James Henry Barrel], 526 Church St., Palmerston- North, Weilington, New Zealand Filed Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 393,888 Claims priority, application New Zealand, Sept. 13, 1963,

This invention relates to means for displaying articles of clothing and more particularly relates to a display device such as a dummy that may be used in drapers or dress shops and the like for displaying articles of clothing such as blouses, cardigans, shirts and the like.

It is the object of this invention to provide a display device of the kind referred to wherein such display device can be manufactured and marketed at a relatively low cost when compared with known conventional display dummies and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide a display device which is capable of occupying a minimum of space and is relatively light in weight so that storage and/ or transportation of such display device is facilitated.

According to this invention the improved display device comprises an inflatable member which, when fully inflated with air and the like, is capable of assuming a prescribed form so that an article, or articles, of clothing can be placed thereon for display and the like purposes; the arrangement and construction of the display device being such that it can readily be maintained in a desired upright position when inflated and, when not in use, it can be deflated so as to facilitate storage and/ or transportation thereof.

The display device of this invention and more particularly the inflatable member is preferably constructed from a flexible plastics material, such as for example a polythene or polyvinyl chloride film and the construction provides an inflatable member which can be inflated so as to assume the form of a torso, or upper part of a body including a head, which is capable of being used for displaying an article, or articles of clothing.

In a preferred arrangement of this invention the inflatable member has a stiffened and/or weighty base so that, when such inflatable member is inflated to form the display device, such display device is self-sustaining in an upright position and is not easily toppled over, said base having a relatively large flat area on its lower surface so as to assist in maintaining the display device in an upright position.

As well as, or as an alternative to, having a weighty base the display device can be provided with an attachment means whereby the display device can be attached to, and supported by, a stand and the like support.

The inflatable member can be inflated by any known suitable means and can be provided with an inlet one way valve or an inlet opening which can be sealed by such as a stopper, the arrangement being that the inflatable member can be inflated with air and the like from such as a pump or by a person in a like manner to that used for inflating such as balloons or air beds and the like. It will be appreciated that it is desirable that the inlet valve, or inlet opening and stopper, is or are in an easily accessible position while at the same time may not be easily seen when the inflatable member is inflated for display purposes; in one arrangement the inflatable member has an inflation valve with a flexible mouth piece, which can protrude outwardly of the inflatable member and whereby the inflatable member can be inflated, after inflation a stopper is placed in the opening of the flexible mouth piece and stopper can be pressed inwardly of the inflatable member so as not to protrude outwardly thereof.

6 Claims.

3,2fl2,328 Patented Aug. 24, 1965 "ice Specific embodiments 'of this invention will now be.

described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 illustrates a typical inflated display device, FIGURES 2 to 7 illustrate a particular construction of the display device and how such display device is assembled, and FIGURE 8 illustrates one arrangement whereby the display device can be supported by a stand and the like, more particularly FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an inflated display device in the form of a torso,

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the lower part of a display device having a particular construction,

FIGURE 3 is a view on lines III-III of FIGURE 2, in FIGURES 2 and 3 the display device illustrated is adapted to receive, but is shown without, a stiffening and/or weighted base member and such display device is shown partially inflated for clarity,

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the lower part of a display device such as that illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 but such display device being inflated and fitted with a base member. i

FIGURE 5 is a view in the direction of arrows VV of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a view on the underside of the device illustrated in FIGURE 4, in the direction of arrows Vi-VI,

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of that portion of the device within the circle indicated by the arrow VII in FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional elevation of a portion of the base member incorporating an attachment means with which a portion of a supporting stand (shown in full) is engaged.

With reference firstly to FlGURE 1 the inflatable member, generally indicated by the arrow having the reference numeral 1, may be transparent or semi-transparent as shown (but it will be appreciated that this is not an essential feature of the invention) and such inflatable member 1 can be constructed from such as a polythene or polyvinyl chloride material by the joining of two or more pie-shaped pieces or by forming from one piece or by vacuum forming in a suitable mould or die, in the latter instance the inflatable member 1 may not have seams 2 as shown. The inflatable member has a base 3, which may be formed as part of the inflatable member 1 or may be secured thereto such as by adhesion, and has an inflation valve 4 provided in the lower part thereof.

Where the inflatable member 1 is constructed by vacuum forming as aforesaid, or by a similar process, various size or adjustable moulds or dies are necessary for the forming of Various size display devices and therefore a simpler and less expensive manner of manufacture is desirable; accordingly a preferred manner of manufacture of the display device is now described referring also to the remaining drawings.

in this preferred manner of manufacture the inflatable member 1 is constructed from a flexible plastics material in sheet or film form, by pre-cutting or shaping such material to a prescribed pattern which in the case of a torso display device as illustrated comprises one piece including front and rear portions having a common fold line 5 at the bottom. A substantially rectangular piece of material is then disposed about said fold line 5 and joined to the front and rear portions of the dipslay device such as by heat welding the front and rear edge portions 6 of the said piece thereto so as to form an open ended pocket or keeper 7 wherein a removable base member it can be accommodated. The front and rear common fold line 5' and the corresponding edges joined I stage of the display device.

such as by heat welding to form the seams 2, the keeper 7 being on the outside, and the inflation valve 4 being provided at any convenient stage of the manufacture.

The inflatable member 1 thus formed would assume the shape illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings if partially inflated without the base member 3 being accommodated in the keeper 7 but such base member 8 would normally be inserted into the keeper 7 and retained therein subsequent to manufacture of the inflatable member 1 and before inflation thereof. With the base member 8 accommodated in the keeper '7 the lower corner portions 9 of the inflatable member 1 are tucked into the open ends of the keeper 7 and under the base member 8 as shown more particularly in FIGURES 6 and 7, the dotted outline in FIGURE 7 indicating the position of a corner portion 9 prior to this final assembly The device can then be fully inflated by way of the inflation valve 4 so as to assume the form indicated by FIGURES 1, 4,5 and 6 of the drawings.

In a modification of this invention the base member 8 can be provided with a screw-threaded adaptor piece, such as that indicated by the reference numeral 11 in FIGURE 8, which can act as an attachment means and wherein a correspondingly screw-threaded end portion 12 of a supporting stand 13 and the like can be engaged, said adaptor piece 11 being disposed medially of said base member 8. Alternatively, but not shown, the base member 8 (or the base 3 of the arrangement described ,with reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawings) may be provided with one or more magnetic members or may itself be magnetised so as to be attachable to a metal stand and the like.

In another modification of this invention the display device can be provided with a means for indicating the name or mark of the manufacturer of the article to be displayed, and/ or the price thereof, and such means may be providing a pocket and the like in the inflatable member and such pocket can be, for example, at the neck portion of the inflatable member as shown in FIG- URE 1; such pocket being adapted to receive such as a name tag and/ or a price tag which can be prominently displayed with an article or articles. Also, in this arrangement, the pocket 10 may be provided with a magnetic strip so that a metallic name tag and/ or price tag can be placed on the outside of the display device and retained in position by such magnetic strip.

In a further modification of this invention (but not illustrated) the inflatable member can be provided with, or can be adapted to receive, adjustable and/or remov- "able reinforcing strips and/or shaping pads so that, when in use, the display device formed is of a reasonably rigid nature and/or has a form which can be varied within limitations.

It will be appreciated that the display device formed 'by the inflatable member is not confined to any particular shape but may take male or female form as desired and can be formed with or without a head and/ or limbs.

Thus by this invention there is provided a device for displaying articles of clothing and such display device can be manufactured and marketed at a relatively low cost, and, furthermore, such display device is light in weight and can be collapsed so as to occupy a minimum of space and thus facilitate storage and/ or transportation when not required for use.

What I do claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the United States of America is:

1. An inflatable display device, which when fully inflated with a gaseous medium is capable of assuming a predetermined three-dimensional form adapte to the article, such as clothing, to be displayed thereon; said device comprising sheet material formed to enclose a hollow air-tight interior and including front and rear areas having a common marginal fold line, and a substantially rectangular piece of flexible material bridging said fold line and having its opposite edges secured to said front and rear areas at points spaced respectively from said fold line, thus providing a pocket at one end of the device between the laminations formed by the basic sheet material and the added piece of material, for the reception of a stiff base member for the reinforcement and support of the device when it is inflated.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 in which the width of said attached piece of material is less than the width of the device itself along the fold line and said material is centered with respect thereto.

3. An inflatable display device, which when fully inflated with a gaseous medium is capable of assuming a predetermined three-dimensional form adapted to the article, such as clothing, to be displayed thereon; said device comprising sheet material formed to enclose a hollow air-tight interior and including front and rear areas having a straight common marginal fold line eX- tending transversely from one extreme end of an edge of the device to the other, whereby when the material is laid out flat before inflation the opposite end corners at said edge are substantially square, and a substantially rectangular piece of flexible material bridging said fold line and having its opposite edges secured to said front and rear areas at points spaced respectively from said fold line, thus providing a pocket at one end of the device between the laminations formed by the basic sheet material and the added piece of material, for the reception of a stiff base member for the reinforcement and support of the device when it is inflated.

4. The device as set forth in claim 3 in which the width of said attached piece of material is less than the width of the device itself along the fold line and said material is centered with respect thereto.

5. The device as set forth in claim t in which a stiff flat removable base member is inserted in said pocket.

6. The device as set forth in claim 5 in which the base member is constructed at least in part of magnetic material for securement to a cooperating magnetic supporting element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,165,045 12/15 Uiford 22367 1,252,618 1/18 Roy 223-67 1,889,659 11/32 Hoffman 223-67 2,740,565 4/56 Wells 223-67 2,823,838 2/58 Quaintance 22367 2,921,727 1/60 Lopez 223-67 2,990,983 7/61 Jackson 22367 3,082,920 3/63 Stein et a1. 223-67 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN INFLATABLE DISPLAY DEVICE, WHICH WHEN FULLY INFLATED WITH A GASEOUS MEDIUM IS CAPABLE OF ASSUMING A PREDETERMINED THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORM ADAPTED TO THE ARTICLE, SUCH AS CLOTHING, TO BE DISPLAYED THEREON; SAID DEVICE COMPRISING SHEET MATERIAL FORMED TO ENCLOSE A HOLLOW AIR-TIGHT INTERIOR AND INCLUDING FRONT AND REAR AREAS HAVING A COMMON MARGINAL FOLD LINE, AND A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR PIECE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL BRIDGING SAID FOLD LINE AND HAVING ITS O/PPOSITE EDGES SECURED TO SAID FRONT AND REAR AREAS AT POINTS SPACED RESPECTIVELY FROM SAID FOLD LINE, THUS PROVIDING A POCKET AT ONE END OF THE DEVICE BETWEEN THE LAMINATIONS FORMED BY THE BASIC SHEET MATERIAL AND THE ADDED PIECE OF MATERIAL, FOR THE RECEPTION OF A STIFF BASE MEMBER FOR THE REINFORCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF THE DEVICE WHEN IT IS INFLATED. 